Unprecedented ‘Meta’ Domain Name Registrations
Client Alert | 1 min read | 11.02.21
Thursday’s announcement that Facebook is rebranding itself as ‘Meta’ resulted in an unprecedented number of new domain name registrations. Since Friday, we have identified over 48,000 new ‘meta’ domain names by way of the award-winning and bespoke brand protection and cybersecurity platform designed and engineered by Crowell & Moring senior counsel Alexander Urbelis.
Critically, a significant number of these newly-registered domains incorporate the names of companies and organizations, or well-known trademarks, e.g., meta-[company name].com or meta[trademark].com. Potentially used for phishing or misinformation, these domains may present cybersecurity issues, and may also constitute threats to brand strength. As a result, we recommend that companies preemptively register domains with the above syntax to prevent them from falling into the hands of cybersquatters or threat actors.
This unprecedented onslaught of domain name registrations also highlights the crossover and complementary nature of brand protection and cybersecurity efforts, giving companies the opportunity to strengthen their cybersecurity posture by protecting valuable trademark rights and prioritizing unauthorized domain registrations en masse.
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Client Alert | 4 min read | 12.30.25
Are All Baby Products Related? TTAB Says “No”
The United States Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB or Board) recently issued a refreshed opinion in the trademark dispute Naterra International, Inc. v. Samah Bensalem, where Naterra International, Inc. petitioned the TTAB to cancel Samah Bensalem’s registration for the mark BABIES' MAGIC TEA based on its own BABY MAGIC mark. On remand from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the TTAB reconsidered an expert’s opinion about relatedness of goods based on the concept of “umbrella branding” and found that the goods are unrelated and therefore again denied the petition for cancellation.
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